When to Do First Oil Change

[wolverine_man]

I did do a search, and I found one on how to change your oil but no consensus on when. I have just over 1k miles on my '08 GT and I'd like to know if I should just follow the manual's service interval or change it out now. I have always been told that on a new car, you should change it out early the first time at around 1k miles to get rid of any metal shavings. What do you guys think?

[BlackCherry06]

1000 miles is a great time to do it. Switch her over to synthetic. The oil that's in it now could have been put in last summer / fall, and there's no telling how many times the car has been started and shut off without being warmed up. Fuel dilution, condensation and break-in materials could all be present. No reason for panic or worry, but if you have the time and $$, do it now.

[wolverine_man]

You think I should do Synthetic now? On my '07 Wrangler I did Mobil one at 1k and from there on out but I was told that I should have waited until like the third oil change to make the switch to synthetic. And I do know that Mobil 1 is not pure synthetic like Amsoil, etc.

[fasteract]

Amsoil instructions state to leave the conventional oil in for 500 miles and than switch over to their product, instructions I followed in my 08 MS3 and in prior turbo vehicles I have owned. Not sure why someone would have suggested changing to a synthetic in your Jeep after 9,000 miles ( Jeep's reco for oil change is 3,000 miles).

[aaronc7]

I did 1000, 3000, 5000....then every 5000 from there on out. Switched to full synth @ 5000

[Haltech]

I did 500, 750, 1000 on dino oil. I also used a 20 wt when i changed it. Went to full synthetic at 1000 and bumper her up to 5/30. Hope that helps.

[wolverine_man]

Alright just to be clear here, I don't have a Speed (i.e. Turbo), only an S. I think I might do 1000 (closer to 1,100 now), then 4000, and then at 7000 go to Mobil 1. Then change every 5k with Mobil 1 from there on.

After the 1k mile change w/ Mobil one, I did every 5k with Mobil 1 on my Jeep and it seemed alright. I'm thinking that I'll just do one more change with regular first before going to Mobil 1 on my 3. Thoughts?

[BlackCherry06]

Unnecessary, but do what makes you feel better. Synthetic will cause no harm at this, or any point. Porsche, Corvette, SRT, AMG, etc. all put it in at the factory.

The circumstances where synthetic isn't advised is on an engine rebuild.

[wolverine_man]

Thanks for the advice. Call me cheap or call me someone who prides themselves in doing their own maintenance, but I like to do my own oil changes. Yet because it is so damned cold out here (14 degrees F), I just may have the dealer do it ($25 I believe; regular oil). The only concern I have is that they won't let it drain real well to get out all of those metal particles. Whenever, I did my Jeep - even after the first change - I always let it drain for like 45 minutes.

[BlackCherry06]

Aw, come on...you'll survive. Go drive it around for a while til it's good and hot, drive it up on ramps, drop the engine tray, put your drain pan in place and pull the drain plug. Go in the house and warm up a while. Now go back out, put the drain plug back in, pull the filter, wrap it in an old rag and take it in the house to clean it up. You're warm again. Go back out, wipe off the filter housing, put on the new filter and re-fill the oil. Start the car and go back in the house. Go back out after a few minutes and check for leaks. If all is clear, replace the tray. Back her down, put the ramps away and you're done!...and no frostbite.

(by saying all this, I'm assuming you have a garage. If not...screw that...take it to Mazda.) :-)

[wolverine_man]

Yeah, I have a 1 bedroom apt. I don't even have a carport. :( Since, I didn't need a jack or ramps or anything for my jeep, I don't have all of that stuff. What ramps would you recommend? I know my father has a jack and some stands, but I don't get home to often. Of course, he just takes his to BMW. (headshake

[fasteract]

Well, the first thing you need to do is move down here to Dixieland so you are not freezing your a** during the winter months ! I don't have any Mazda dealers down here that do the change for $25.00, that's for sure.

Rhino ramps with the low profile are best to avoid scraping the spoiler.

I have used Amsoil for quite awhile..you can sign up online for the Preferred Customer discount ($10/6 months) and get 12 quarts of their street best 0W-30 for around $110..6 quarts per oil change which will last 15,000 miles/1 year if you follow their guidelines for turbo motors, so you have 30K/2 years of oil plus, IMHO, the best stuff around (Royal Purple likes to put PTFE in their oil). I have used the stuff in 500 HP Evo's, 460 HP DSM's and the engines look like new when I have broken them down plus never wasted a turbo even when their "limits" were sorely tested...other Evo's with 35R turbo's when run hard have eventually had there ball bearing centers go South on some occasions even when changing the Mobil1 faithfully. Just my feelings from someone who has been turbo-izing since the early 70's.

No friends with a garage or enclosed area ? Hell, if you guys can sit out on a lake ice fishing (not the plush, heated little transportable hut wimps), a little outside oil change should be like a week in the Bahamas.

Again the above is for a turbo but why not treat your 3S to the best and keep the thing forever.

[blake_peanut]

Thought I'd chime in with my oil change routine. Just hit 2081km did my first oil change with 5W30 Castrol Semi Synthetic.

Next one will be at 5000km, with same as above.

Then 8000km, with full synthetic or one more 5W30 Semi Synthetic, haven quite decided.

[2ManyCars]

Changing that often (every 3000km) certainly wont hurt but it seems like a waste of $$$$.

[blake_peanut]

Ya for sure, its just for the beginning after will be every 8000km!

[BLAZEONE]

Not to jack the thread, but possibly ask another question?

I was told by Mazda that they recommend oil changes every 5k, regular oil for my MS3.

IYO, Is this good advice, or is synthetic a must, and or worth the extra money?

BTW, the Mazda service guy says this is what he does for his speed6..

[fasteract]

The debate syn. vs. conv. oil will go on...my view is that using regular oil on a turbo is fine if you change it every 3K miles and run it as a daily driver with no high performance mods. Saying that, I use Amsoil in my new MS3 since I like to keep these cars a long time and believe the wear studies done by Amsoil. The Mazda service guy probably follows the q5K oil change with dino oil 'cause he gets it free !

If the Owner's Manual tells you to cool off the motor idling after an extended run I assume they feel that their "suggested" oil will coke up the turbo bearing cartridge otherwise, a problem I have never seen in multiple turbo breakdowns of mine which used synthetic's exclusively. The coke deposits will definitely make a floating turbo bearing give up sooner. Mazda's warranty limits will in most cases cover a syn/conv. oil lubricated part for that period of time so they don't really care if you use syn or not.

[jaydubz]

Aw, come on...you'll survive. Go drive it around for a while til it's good and hot, drive it up on ramps, drop the engine tray, put your drain pan in place and pull the drain plug. Go in the house and warm up a while. Now go back out, put the drain plug back in, pull the filter, wrap it in an old rag and take it in the house to clean it up. You're warm again. Go back out, wipe off the filter housing, put on the new filter and re-fill the oil. Start the car and go back in the house. Go back out after a few minutes and check for leaks. If all is clear, replace the tray. Back her down, put the ramps away and you're done!...and no frostbite.

(by saying all this, I'm assuming you have a garage. If not...screw that...take it to Mazda.) :-)

Man oh man, that never really happens in Florida. I hate the cold, you just have to worry about afternoon thunderstorms.

[wolverine_man]

Well I just made an appointment for this Saturday to have my oil changed at the Mazda dealership. My 3 will have about 1500 miles on it. I think that is plenty long enough to wait for the first change. For $24.95 for regular Valvoline, I decided to wait until the second change to switch to synthetic. Hopefully, the windchill won't be below zero by then and I can do it myself.(yes)

[Speed3Sleeper]

I'm changing mine at 500 miles and running mobile 1 synthetic. Then when I hit 3,000 miles I will change it again and finally drive her hard :) It's all about the break in guys.

Question, is amsoil better then mobile 1?

[blake_peanut]

It is ALL about the break in...but unfortunately 99.9% of that is done way before your car was probably entirely built. This is done at the factory...although I agree that you shouldn't beat the shit out of your car when you drive it off the lot, it is in fact already "broke in". Following the manual is the best way...try not to keep it at any one constant speed...avoid red lining every gear as if you think your in the "Fast and the Furious" haha.

As for your Q - Mobile 1 as I understand has been proven not to be "fully" synthetic. Not exactly 100% sure on that as I think that particular fact is up in the air. Personally I am going to go Royal Purple or Amsoil, my two cents.

Speed3Sleeper - get the TRZ MM and some TWM shifter bushings, first things I did to my 2008 MS3. Made a world of difference, just a suggestion.

wolverine_man - good call on waiting a bit to go fully synthetic, this is what I'm doing.